Submerged soap dispenser



July 14, 1942. E. a. LAWLER SUBMERGED SOA'P DISPENSER Filed July 25,1940 INVENTOR. EDWARD 5. [An 45R.

Patented July 14, 1942 UNITED I STATES PATENT OFFICE suanmaeazszrfmsrmsna Edward B. Lawler, New York, N. Y. Application July 2:, 1940,Serial' No. 346,925

3 Claims.

This invention relates to devices for feeding cleaning material in dishwashing machines of the tank or spray type.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a feeder ofcleaning material which is adapted to function while being submerged ina tank type dish washing machine, or operate in the wash tank of a spraytype dish washing machine.

Another object of my invention is to provide a submerged soap feederwhich is automatic in operation and adjustable at will and soconstructed that it provides instantaneous soap feeding at the start andgradual or slow feeding when the tank is charged with cleaning material.

Another object of this invention is to provide a submerged soap feederwherein the discharge of soap solution is controllable at will, thecontrol being arranged so as to make it hard to get at thus supplying atall times a uniform solution of a predetermined strength.

A further object of this invention is to provide a soap feeder for dishwashing machines having several compartments, a central covered andattached open pockets the latter adapted for easily filling withoutspilling on floor and adaptable for refilling during a temporarystoppage of the washing machine without removing the cover of thecentral compartment.

A further object of this invention is to provide a submerged soap feederwith openings and replaceable screens arranged over the openings.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following descriptionand will be pointed out in the appended claims.

The invention. will be disclosed with reference to the accompanyingdrawing, in which- Fig, 1 is an elevational view of my feeder in a tanktype. machine.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the feeder.

Fig. 3 is a vertical view partly in section.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of the control.

Fig. 5 is an end view of my feeder.

Referring to the drawing the numeral ll, represents a dish washingmachine of the tank type.

7 Within the tank, atthe bottom thereof, the soap feeder II, is set.

The soap feeder ii, made of non-corrosive metal comprises a plurality ofcompartments, a center compartment l2, and wedge shaped end pockets II,and I4. and cover I.

The central compartment I2, is provided with a plurality of openings ii,on each side and the end pockets are provided with openings I1, and thecover II, is provided with opening ll.

In order to prevent sludge or impurities filling the openings while thefeeder is in the tank, I have provided a method of screening theopenings as follows:

At the openings l6, and I1, I place slots l8, and i9, and insert thereinscreens 20, and 2|. These screens are removable at will and can bereplaced when damaged or when they become impervious due to clogging ofthe screen.

The opening I8, in the cover I5, is of a large size and in order tocontrol the size of the opening I place a platen is, which is revolvablyarranged on a screw 20. This platen H, has a series of openings 22, 23of various sizes so that when the platen is turned with the smallopening opposite the opening l8, then the flow through the feeder isslow. By turning the platen any size opening may be obtained.

In order to prevent the tampering or accidental moving of platen, I havearranged openings 24-25 opposite the openings 22, 23 and by means ofscrew 28, any size opening can be fastened or locked into position.

In order to prevent any sludge over the opening i8, I have arranged ascreen 21 fastened in a ring 28 which is adapted to be held over theopening l8, by means of screws 29, 30. The fastening of the screenaffords a double protection against any tampering with the controlplaten IS.

The reason for making the end pockets l3, and I4, wedge shaped is asfollows: When the feeder is to be used all the compartments are filledwith soap and the feeder is inserted into the bottom of the tank. Theinitial charging is immediately begun and due to the open pockets thewater is charged in a few minutes. The water is then continuouslycharged by the main or central compartment and the amount of soapsolution obtained depends on the size of opening in control platen It.

If the dish washing is completed and the feeder is removed it will befound that the end pockets are empty and the main or central compartmentpartly filled depending on the amount of dish washing completed.

In order to use the feeder for the next batch of dishes all that wouldbe necessary is to refill the end pockets with new soap and insert thefeeder into the tank.

Heretofore the end pockets were rectangular and narrow, and whenrefilling was tried most of the soap would fall to the floor and bewasted. with this improvement I have made the open end very large butthe total volume of end pocket the same as the old rectangular pocket.This facilitates filling the pockets without any loss and since itoifers a larger flat surface to the water the soap will dissolve fasterfor the initial charge. The filling of the wedge shaped pockets isfurther facilitated by the wall ll, formed-by the cover II. over thecentral compartment. This wall prevents the soap from spreading.

What, I claim is:

1. A soap feeder comprising a central rectan-' gular receptacle havingopen top wedge-shaped gular receptacle having open top wedge shapedreceptacles formed on the ends thereof, said receptacles providingcompartments for receiving soap, 7 said central receptacle projectingabove said wedge shaped receptacles, a cover for said rectangularreceptacle, a small opening in said cover and small openings in theouter side walls near the bottoms of the several compartments.

3. A soap feeder comprising a central rectangular receptacle having opentop wedge-shaped receptacles formed on the ends thereof, saidreceptacles providing compartments for receiving soap, a cover for saidcentral receptacle, a small opening in said cover and small openings inthe outer side walls near the bottoms of the several compartments andremovable screens adjacent to said opening in the cover and adjacent tosaid openings near the bottom.

' EDWARD B. LAWLER.

